That's unfortunate, I've abused my HM126 for almost 7yrs now and have only had to replace blades. I do think it's time now though, getting a squeal from time to time.
Also, I forgot to mention, don't know if it's still happening, but the pinging, as I have recently learned, is apparently the result of too high/fast an idle. It is the clutch but it's cause is the idle speed, slow it down ping goes away.
