I have the 3000mA cells you are talking about and the charger that came with mine does not allow the discharge option. I also have the AA charger, which does. The cells might need charging when you get them, but I don't recall. I ran one down completely only to test run time, which happened to be it's first use, or as you called cycling. I taped 2 shows with them since purchased, and have not run them back down completely yet. I knew how many hours they were used for, and charged them for that long using a lamp timer. Make sure you label the cells if you bought 2. I didn't my first time out, and couldn't tell which one I used when I got home - you all know the rush some security give us.