Use your DMM and resistance setting (and a strong pair of reading glasses) and probe the underside of the board for the potentiometer resistance AS SET.
OK so I blew it on the TV repair shop recommendation. Sue me.
LAPTOP repair places, reputable ones, can solder the new pot in place, or the wires that lead to a remote pot. I do not trust myself to do it, my hands, eyes, and coordination are all too flaky to risk it.
Preset the replacement pot with the same resistance setting as what you found when you probed the out of the box pot. Tell the tech keep hands off - he has no reason to fiddle with it.
It is unreasonable to expect that this PSU unit to be vastly inferior to the higher priced PSU. But the fan is another question. It probably is garbage. I'm not even going to TRY and use the OEM fan. Dracula attacks! The fan gets hurled out the back window. On top goes a real brushless ball bearing fan. Sealed to the case with GOOP. Oooooo look I made a mistake! Somehow a thicker, higher CFM fan managed to find it's way up there. I may even glue a 5 volt micro fan inside using a 5-volt regulator. Chinese play monkey-see-monkey-do with designs. There is so much espionage stealing, I'm surprised speeding automobiles do not smack into each other between factories.
While inside the unit, draw a rough diagram noting every electrolytic capacitor, it's capacitance and voltage values. This is where our little Chinese buddies are likely to cheat. Off brand to MeanWell, I suspect soy sauce capacitors are the weak link in these critters.
Use a MAGNIFYING GLASS plus strong reading glasses, and a strong light source to trace both positive and negative circuit traces backwards from the 12 volt output terminals. Look for solder voids and points that look like globs of aluminum paint. The laptop repair guy can fix shaky looking solder joints when he is doing to pot job.
