Plymouth, WI
RTFM. Not to be a jerk, but since you asked for tips to avoid the next accident...next time you do not understand how something works, read the manual. All this is covered. People treat the goodie bag as some sacred tomb which must not be opened. It's there for a reason. One reason is it contains the manual, which tells you how to safely set up your machine if you do not already know how.
That said...dropping a playfield into a machine sucks. Been there done that...multiple times even. Not exclusive to Stern though. Glad you didn't break anything. I have mostly been lucky, but I did manage to smash a cabinet woofer once.
