What you describe is very common on System 11 games. That is the GI circuit. The fix is easy. Remove the board, desolder the old male connector, clean up, solder new connector on. Repin female side. Have a beer.

More info...
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_System_9_-_11#General_Illumination_Issues
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Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The new place for pinball repair info

+1 Don't forget to replace lamps with LED's so it never happens again.

LEDs are not necessary, keep your pin looking classy and original Rebuild the connector, in home use, it'll be fine

It couldn't hurt, could it?? "Classy", is in the eye of the beholder.

www.greatplainselectronics.com for the parts. There are many sources, but I like Ed's service.

Repairing that will be the most trivial pinball PCB repair you'll ever make. Since you don't have a solder sucker of any kind, and your a newb, I'd recommend separating each pin with a carpet knife. They should fracture pretty easily since they are heat stressed. You can then heat and remove each pin separately. A pro would use his desoldering station to remove the header, clean up the old solder, and then replace it. Pay close attention to keying pins.

The female side...you can use the easier and cheaper IDC connectors as were originally used. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. IDC connectors are inferior to crimp-on style trifurcon pins, which I'd recommend.

This is a good opportunity to dip your toe into the pinball repair world. Have fun!
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball/index.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

RCA: I had the exact same issue on my taxi interconnect. I had zero soldering experience prior.

I bought the male/female parts from Great Plains. I bought the connectors that had the exact number on pins on each so I didn't have to cut anything.

Grab a solder sucker from radioshack.

Honestly, it's a pretty easy repair to make. You can handle it. Pulling the board off the backbox is the biggest pain of the whole ordeal! I find this type of repair is actually easier than under a pin as the interconnect will be situated right in front of you at a desk or the like, as opposed to crammed under a playfield.

And when you're done, you'll feel fantastic when the lights come back on!

Without a doubt. One of the really tedious things about working on System 11 games. At least once you have it out and fix it, there is very little need after that to remove it again.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.Team-EM.com
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball/index.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

Another option would be to see if you have someone near you that can do the repair for you.
You could watch and gain some insight.
But as others have stated , this is a common issue and repair. If you elect to do the repair just stay focused and calm. Take your time. You'll find that you can do it!

you'll have to pigtail the trifurcons, or use larger wire sized connectors as you can't loop through the small gauge types. I'll also wire wrap the male connector on the back of the board where the pins are the same (looped on the female connector side).

I like 47s behind backglasses as LEDs have that spotlight effect.

I was totally against LEDs in GI until i saw the warm white superbright retros cointaker has. $1 a pop but look very close to incadescent.

-c

Or just stick with the IDC.

I believe this is no on route, so IDC is fine. Less involved than having the pigtail.

2J9 is direct, no looping. The only looping is on 2J7.

A lot of techs replace 1 side of the connector - the one on the board that melts down - and leaves the original tarnished/oxidized pins, which eventually wreck the new connector. To fix it 'right', both halves have to be replaced. The increased resistance on the tarnished pins turns to heat, which breaks down the replacement connector much faster than the originals.

While the board is out, look close at both sides of the board and check for burns or other physical damage that may not be evident with the board installed in the game. Also, if you have a meter and know how to use it, you should check all of the cement resistors on the board (the big whitish ones) as they sometimes go bad and the values change. Grab your manual and confirm the value of each of the resistors to what is installed, as the resistor values are different from game to game, but the boards can be used in many games. The games have different sized resistors depending on how many flash lamps are in the circuit.

Should be fine, as there's nothing else in circuit with them.