How to power up esc without a battery?
 

Don't have any lipo's yet but would like to power up my esc to program it if possible, I can hack up a power supply from something else, I have a ton of 5v
's laying around. Not sure if that will be enough juice though. I also have a 25amp power supply for my ham radio that has adjustable voltage but not sure if esc's are like a lot other DC stuff and only draw the amps they need to operate. Thoughts?

As long as the voltage is within the ESC's specs, that will be fine.

So even if the amperage is way more then it need it won't fry it?

without a motor hooked up, it will not draw much current

It's only going to pull the amperage it's drawing. With no motor load placed on it there will be a very minimal amp draw placed on it.

There is no point programming it unless you are going to use it, because if you arent going to run it you wont know which settings to use.

Like the others have mentioned, nope. It's the same as a battery for all practical purposes.

Just observe correct polarity (+/-, red/black), and voltage limits. Same as for a battery.

Oh, and be careful with the ESC outputs/motor leads, keep them separated/isolated, or connected to a motor.

I've done it more than a few times, with ESCs from various eras. An adjustable voltage bench supply is quite handy at times. Be careful if trying to run the motor, don't exceed the current limits of the power supply.