TLDR: As part of your troubleshooting, try removing the MicroSD card to see if it reduces/eliminates the rapid battery drain. The only evidence will be the battery draining rapidly - no errors will occur, and the card will appear to format/store recordings as if it is functioning normally, even though the card may have gone bad or is incompatible.
[Detailed Update]
Replacement Battery Cam arrived from Wyze yesterday, (We will call this one Cam3b) and I am happy to report that the camera is sitting solid at 97% since yesterday evening. There is more to the story than a simple camera swap. Here is something else I learned:
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With any MicroSD card installed, the camera seems to drain a little faster. (Cam2 seems to be ticking down at around 1% per day with the SD card installed. ) - Not a big deal & makes sense - just something to note.
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With no MicroSD card installed, the camera drains at a very, very low rate (taking multiple days to lose 1%) - This is a really good thing IMO
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With an MicroSD card that the camera “does not like”, or is bad - the camera may appear to work normally, but the battery will drain at a rapid rate. - This is the root of the issue.
When the camera arrived, I installed/Formatted a fresh 64GB MicroSD in the new Cam3b & mounted (In the Cam2 spot from the saga above), Within an hour, I noticed the battery drain from 100% to 97% - very concerning.
On a hunch, I decided to just eject the MicroSD card, and let the camera run on cloud only to see what would happen. To my surprise, the camera has held the 97% charge since. (that was at 8pm last night, It is now 10am CT the next day)
So, my hypothesis has changed. I do not think there are “bad cameras out there” per se, but there is definitely some sensitivity to the combo of MicroSD card and camera and/or there is an issue with camera’s ability to report a bad card.
After pulling the card, and attempting to read/format the card on my computer, I was unsuccessful - Bad Card. It would be nice if the camera would have given me some indication, but it is my responsibility to eliminate the variables. For those wondering, the card was a MicroCenter house brand 64GB card. I have been using them in my Wyze cam’s since 2018, and have not had a problem until now. (I have a bunch of spare 4-packs lying around that I am now questioning)
Bottom line - if your camera is acting weird, add “remove MicroSD card” to the list of troubleshooting steps.
This issue is now closed for me.