I'm an EM novice. I've adjust switches, shopped games, replaced rubbers, changed coils, etc. Very basic stuff.

Long story short, I dropped a spring in the cabinet of a Fireball EM while working on the game. I've spent hours looking for the spring and cann't find it.

I'm now honestly afraid to turn on the game.

I see the playfield is only attached with one jones plug. Can I remove the playfield, turn on the game and press start with the playfield out?

I was thinking if I remove the playfield, I can first give it another good look to see if I can find the spring. Failing that, if I can start a game with the playfield out, I can see if there is an issue and quickly turn off.

That's my idea at this point. Good idea? Not good idea? Very interested to hear from a more experienced EM tech

Thanks for the suggestions. I should have mentioned I used a magnet to check under the board and found another spring. LOL. Not the one I dropped. I know as it was red and mine was silver.

I'll try your approach, @jukester. Thanks. I'll also see how many plugs there are. Might still remove the playfield as well.

If this leads to nothing, I'll be doing the Vegas approach, roll the dice, and pray when I turn it on.

Maybe a dumb question, can I leave the playfield out and unplugged (from jones connectors) then turn the game on, press start and see? If all is good at this point, then attach playfield and try again?

Thanks, I've seen it done w/ Gottliebs as well which gave me the idea, but thought I should ask. I'm far from an EM expert so wanted to make sure this won't cause any issues.