J. Phil Thien's Projects

Thank you for your help.
I will happily keep the cone.
I have mounted the impeller and motor horizontally and it will be only about 12" above the tophat when complete.
So yes, the impeller will be downstream of the separator, directly vented to outdoors with a straight run.(a temperate climate has many advantages)
Separator dumping into a 200L steel drum.
2HP 230v single phase taiwanese motor is good and the impeller is closer to the Grizzly than the Harbor Freight, so I am hoping the top hat reconfiguration will be a decent upgrade.

The inlet is definitely below the cone, and the bottom of the cone would be 5" from the top of the Thien baffle when built.
Another pic with it up the right way.

Should I be removing the internal cone in this dust collector housing when I convert it to a tophat style separator?
Picture as viewed from the bottom.
Thanks.