Space between heat vent and exhaust

[ziqbal_2000]

Hello,

Here is the picture of how my exhaust and heat vent are coming up in the basement toilet. They are both in ceiling and about 1.5 feet apart. Is this OK or they should be further apart. I hired a plumber to hook up some water lines and install bath tub. He cut through the outer layer of 14 gauge wire and tripped the arc fault circuit. I am attaching a picture. He just put some electrical tape around it. Everything on the circuit is working fine ... should I be worried about this? Both pictures are attached

[A. Spruce]

Your heat supply and exhaust are fine. I would suggest adding a timer switch to the exhaust fan so that it doesn't get forgotten and left on, which is way too easy to do. A timer switch will allow you to choose from 0-30 minutes run time before turning off the fan, more than enough time for a good fan to do its job.

If the breaker was tripped when that wire was cut into, that means that the conductors were exposed, if not damaged. I'd highly recommend peeling back the insulation a bit for further inspection. If there is negligible damage to the wires, individually tape the conductors then wrap the whole thing with tape, not ideal, but satisfactory. Better would be to replace that section of damaged wire from nearest source to nearest next box or add boxes to house the splices where they'll still be accessible, but least obtrusive. If the conductors show much for damage at all, replacement is the only way to repair it

[Shannon]

IF the wire is in an area that will be accessible .I.E. not hidden behind drywall when things are finished and if there is enough slack so that you can put this wire in a junction box and make a connection between the two ends thats what I would do. If not that section will likely need to be replaced completely because the wires are almost certainly compromised.
The suggestions on the exhaust and heat runs from Spruce are exactly my thoughts as well.

[ziqbal_2000]

Thank you so much!!!