I just received a new Hobbywing OTA Bluetooth programmer ($45 delivered, ebay, Chinese helicopter parts website, cleared customs in a week), downloaded the manuals for my esc's and motors. My question is does the motor have to be connected to the esc in order to program the esc? I have an XR10 Justock soldered to a V10 GT3 and a XR8 Pro G2 with a 4268 2200kv G3 that's not soldered together yet. The XR10 is in my VTA car and runs cool without a fan. Runs great actually. The XR8 and 4268 are for my off road buggy and I haven't soldered the ABC wires to the motor yet. Can I still program the esc or does it need to "see" the motor when I'm setting parameters? Thanks!

Nope, doesn't have to be connected. But it's a good idea to have it connected if you're looking to do a no-load run-up.

I wonder how long it would have taken to just try it instead of waiting almost 90 minutes for an answer.

Thanks just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to mess anything up.

It's possible he was just being cautious. I can't really blame him - this stuff isn't cheap to replace straight away.

And you don't think if it was problematic or even dangerous, there'd be a big fat warning in the manual?

Rc police r here

Beside that. Programming some parameters is just a minute work, why not wait until it is all build in and connected if you are not sure?

Thanks, I was just being overly cautious. Not everybody can afford a stable a cars and this stuff is expensive even if you are building on a budget. Besides it's better to err on the side of caution than throwing it to the wind and screw yourself in the process. As they say, ignorance is bliss...