Sphereworld Problem

I know there have been alot of posts on sphereworld problems but I've searched through them and havent found an answer to the problem I am encountering.

I am using version 1.17 and Balance mod version .99

The situation:
I am trying to construct a sphereworld around a star in a system with no planets, it has the usual assortment of asteroids and 2 warp points but nothing else. I designed and built 10 plating starbases, and 10 cable starbases in a hex as close as possible to the star. I also constructed one starbase with the sphereworld component (I did this because it was the method of SEIV and I forgot that the method had changed). Finding that I could not use the starbase to generate a sphereworld, I designed and built a baseship with a sphereworld component and moved it to the same hex with the 20 component bases.

When I now attempt to generate a sphereworld I get a error message that there are non-component ships within the radius of construction. I assume this is referring to my accidental sphereworld starbase. I have tried to decommision this starbase and nothing happened (I assume because it is not around a planet where resources can be deposited), I then moved one of my dreadnoughts onto the hex and selected 'fire on', nothing happened. The only way I can think of to remove this starbase is to update the design to include a self destruct device, retrofit the starbase, and then self destruct it. I havent been able to try that though (I was playing right up until I came to work does anybody know if it will work? and if not, what will?

I think that is the problem I am encountering, however reading the forums I have seen a few things that also confuse me and could be screwing up my effort.

*One post refers to the need to use baseships to move all components to the position around the star, however my baseship component limit is 1,800kt. This makes adding a cable or plating component (2,000kt) to a baseship impossible. Could someone explain if this is correct or not?

*Several posts refer to the fact that a star system must be empty in the 6 surrounding hexes of a star. The system I am using contains several asteroid hexes. Will these prevent a sphereworld from being constructed? Should I instead go for a completely clean system by creating a new star in a nebulae system?

Thanks in advance for any comments/explanations/answers!