Wiring Dakota Digital RTX Gauges

Dakota Digital has been in the business of making advanced electrical products for the Automotive Aftermarket for a long time.  Their products include gauges, lighting, cruise control systems, gear indicators, linear actuators, climate control interfaces and other automotive accessories.  We’ve posted details before on how to wire their automatic door lock controller and their VHX series of gauges. They recently introduced their RTX gauge family.  These bring classic styling with modern features to any hot-rod, street rod, resto-mod or Pro-Touring build.  This blog post is going to walk you through the details of Wiring Dakota Digital RTX Gauges to our system.

Before we go too far, this post is only going to cover wiring primary power, ground, key-on power, gauge lighting and the signals for the indicators on the dash.  Their manual will cover the details for the rest of the wiring.  Carefully read and understand all of the details of the RTX instructions before you go any further.  You can get their manual by clicking this link.

This diagram shows an overview of the connections to the Infinitybox system for the RTX controller box.

Picture of the Infinitybox wiring diagram showing how to wire the Dakota Digital RTX Gauges

Their RTX controller needs constant power from the battery.  Connect the 12 VDC CONSTANT terminal on their controller box directly to the positive terminal on the battery.  You must fuse this wire at the battery for safety.  You also have to connect the GROUND terminal on their controller box to a good chassis ground connection.  This must be a metal-to-metal connection that is free of paint, powder coating, dirt and debris.

Here are the connections that are specific to the Infinitybox system.

First, the RTX controller box needs ignition or key-on power.  This is what turns the gauges on when you turn the key in the car.  Your ignition output is going to provide this power.  In most systems, this output is number 3 on the front POWERCELL.  Check the configuration sheet that came with your kit to confirm.  This ignition output is going to power your engine management.  You are going to splice into this wire to connect to the IGNITION PWR terminal on the RTX controller box.  You can manage this splice a few different ways but our Infinitybox Splice Saver Kit is a great way to create a sealed junction point for everything in your car that requires ignition power.

Next, you need to connect your parking light output on the front POWERCELL to the DIM terminal on the RTX controller box.  This will turn on the illumination on the RTX gauges when you have your parking or headlights on.  Just like the ignition output, splice into the parking light output on your front POWERCELL and connect this to the DIM terminal.

Next you need to connect your dome light output to the EX terminal in the DOME INPUT section of their RTX controller.  You can use any of the OPEN outputs on your POWERCELLs as your dome light output.  This blog post will get you more detail on wiring your dome lights and pin switches on your 20-Circuit Kit.

Lastly, you need to connect the POWERCELL outputs for your turn signals and high-beam to their respective terminals on the RTX control box for the turn signal indicators and high beam indicators.  Just like the key-on power and parking lights, splice into the output wires for the left turn signal, right turn signal and high-beams and connect them to the LEFT, RIGHT and HIGH terminals, respectively.  When your POWERCELL is flashing the left turn signal, the indicator for the left turn signal will flash on the Dakota Digital gauges.  When you have your high beams on, your high beam indicator will light up on the gauges.

Our Infinitybox system can power any electrical system in your resto-mod, street rod, pro-touring build or race car.  Wiring Dakota Digital RTX Gauges is a great example of that.  You can download a PDF of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

Our technical support team is available to answer any questions about blog post or any other topics about wiring your car with our Infinitybox system.  Click on this link to get in touch with our team.