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. <EOS>