My pixma printer skips lines/text only in black

[ChesterJ]

My pixma printer skips lines/text.  Color prints fine.  Anything printed with PGBK (5) does not.  I have cleaned the printer head by removing the carriage that holds the cartridges and using a Q-tip.   That did not work.   It seems that many people have this problem, but nobody can solve it.  Note, the problem is in the printer, not the computer, as the test sheet does not print the PGBK correctly (skips some of it).   I almost suspect that the printer prints fine when the cartridge is going in one direction, but when it comes back, it doesn't print at all as the pattern is very regular.  Like this:

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Has anyone solved this? 

[Danny]

Hi, ChesterJ!

So that the Community can help you better, we will need to know exactly which printer model you're using. That, and any other details you'd like to give will help the Community better understand your issue!

If this is a time-sensitive matter, our US-based technical support team is standing by, ready to help 24/7 via Email at http://bit.ly/EmailCanon or by phone at 1-800-OK-CANON (1-800-652-2666) weekdays between 10 AM and 10 PM ET (7 AM to 7 PM PT).

Thanks and have a great day!

[ChesterJ]

It is a Pixma MP 830, but I think the problem is encountered with other similar models, as well.   

[sweeneymary]

YES! I think I HAVE solved this.  Like you I thought it was a printer problem, an update problem, an OS problem. I was wrong.

I believe it is a FONT problem. I have found that if I choose Black in the THEME colors, and set that a default for the Normal.dot template, all goes well. No more skipping.

This issue has taken up considerable time for me. I have even considered replacing my printer - and I have some unused ink cartridges. I have gone shopping. Yet my gut kept telling me that the problem was elsewhere because if I printed in another color, I had no issues.

I hope that this solves your problem.