A method for detecting longitudinal rips and monitoring the belt orientation of a tubular conveyor belt as the conveyor belt advances through a conveyor system, wherein said tubular conveyor belt has a width, a length, a longitudinal centerline, a first longitudinal edge, an opposing second longitudinal edge, and a load bearing region, wherein during use said first longitudinal edge and said second longitudinal edge overlap to form an overlap region forming the belt into a tube-like shape of defined diameter, wherein said load bearing region is located about the longitudinal centerline of the belt throughout the length of the belt; said method comprising monitoring the position of the centerline by detecting the position and integrity of a plurality of equally spaced magnetically permeable elements embedded therein, wherein the magnetically permeable elements are situated across the width of the load bearing region of the tubular conveyor belt, wherein the position of the magnetically permeable elements are used to determine the orientation of the tubular conveyor belt, wherein the position of the centerline is monitored as a function of the degree of rotation of the centerline relative to a fixed point on a sensor array mounted on the conveyor system where the tubular conveyor belt is being monitored, wherein the tubular conveyor belt is monitored by a plurality of magnetic reference points as a function of belt position using a pulse device with a control unit in communication with a belt monitor which is operable to assess damage events as well as detect locations of such damage events relative to a magnetic reference point from among the plurality of magnetic reference points including a single splice or multiple splices from amongst a plurality of splices. wherein said tubular conveyor belt has a width, a length, a longitudinal centerline, a first longitudinal edge, an opposing second longitudinal edge, and a load bearing region, wherein during use said first longitudinal edge and said second longitudinal edge overlap to form an overlap region forming the belt into a tube-like shape of defined diameter, wherein said load bearing region is located about the longitudinal centerline of the belt throughout the length of the belt; said method comprising monitoring the position of the centerline by detecting the position and integrity of a plurality of equally spaced magnetically permeable elements embedded therein, wherein the magnetically permeable elements are situated across the width of the load bearing region of the tubular conveyor belt, monitoring the position of the centerline by detecting the position and integrity of a plurality of equally spaced magnetically permeable elements embedded therein, wherein the magnetically permeable elements are situated across the width of the load bearing region of the tubular conveyor belt, wherein the position of the magnetically permeable elements are used to determine the orientation of the tubular conveyor belt, wherein the position of the centerline is monitored as a function of the degree of rotation of the centerline relative to a fixed point on a sensor array mounted on the conveyor system where the tubular conveyor belt is being monitored, wherein the tubular conveyor belt is monitored by a plurality of magnetic reference points as a function of belt position using a pulse device with a control unit in communication with a belt monitor which is operable to assess damage events as well as detect locations of such damage events relative to a magnetic reference point from among the plurality of magnetic reference points including a single splice or multiple splices from amongst a plurality of splices.