Control 24 dead fader bank

[Fix]

Ok, so I have been running my Control 24 heavy for about 6 years now and it's run perfectly until the last week or so. I was in the middle of a mix session with a client and all of the sudden the fader on channel 17 locked. It wouldn't move at all. I closed the session and shut down the system and now the entire section for fader bank 17-24 is completely dead. When I shut the power off fader 17 finally released.

I read up on as many posts on here as I could about possible solutions. I tried pulling the bottom of the console off to check for loose connections on the fader panel and PSU. I also checked and cleaned connections...to no avail. I might be looking at needing to replace that fader bank or have it repaired, so....

1. I was looking for any additional things to check or try...or,

2. If I do need to have it repaired, I was hoping to get some input from someone else who has dealt with this. It is very important that I don't have this down for too long as even with the faders not working it's my primary source for monitoring (I know, I know, it's not the best monitoring source...but it's worked well for me for years!) Luckily, Avid's website lists a certified repair location not too far from me where I can drive it there myself.

3. Lastly, in the meantime will it be bad for me to run the Control 24 as a control source with the dead faders? For the last week I've just been using the monitoring section and I disabled ProTools from seeing it in the preferences so I wouldn't damage it further.

Any advice at all would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.