Paper feed jerking forward randomly in Epson SX115 printer

Printouts from my SX115 inkjet 3 in 1 have blank horizontal lines right through the text and spaced at random intervals. Some occur after 1/2 a page of good print on A4 and later some will occur at 1 inch intervals. I doubt it has anything to do with the inkjet cartridge as faults there would cause blank spaces to occur randomly along lines and I don't get that. It looks to me like the paper feed is suddenly jerking forward without leaving any lines of print crammed on top of each other. So I can see the paper feed doesn't stop and then jerk forward, it only jerks forward. Any ideas please?

Usually lines like that can indicate the ink is running out. They can occur randomly when they start running out.

That is an old model. It might just be worn out and at the end of it's life. Epson support is quite helpful so maybe give them a call.

Thanks guys. Actually, probedb, the blanks are caused by the paper feed jerking forward halfway down a row but when it stops the rest of that row is then printed so I doubt it's caused by the ink running low. Unless you know better? But it could be worn out Jomie, I agree. If the paper feed is driven by a stepper motor (just a guess) then maybe whatever triggers it to make steps must be generating too many pulses or pulses at the wrong time, do you think? Thanks both anyway.

The price printers are these days and the time and money trying to figure it out I would just buy a new printer

The price printers are these days and the time and money trying to figure it out I would just buy a new printer

If you only need a printer for text buy a laser Brother HL 1210 for £50.

I agree. I'll get another printer. Unfortunately for me I just enjoy solving problems and buying my way out of them doesn't seem like I've solved them, just sidestepped them. I'll take the old printer down to my shed where I can take it to pieces gradually and see if there's a mechanical fault that explains this jerking. But I'll get a HP printer too. Thanks everyone for your help. Even if I didn't use it, just knowing it was offered was encouraging and therefore helpful.

---------- Post added 18-02-2017 at 19:53 ----------

Something else I got from a free telephone help line: the jerking forward may be due to some gears inside the printer catching on one another. When I get time I'll have a look. Meanwhile I've got an HP C5200 that works.