Instruction: Answer the given question by extracting information from the supporting document.

Input:
Question: Does the chocolate need to be melted before being added to the unit? Or will the unit heat up solid chocolate with enough time? Thanks :)
Document: This was the hit of Christmas for my family!!! The secret is to heat it up 15 minutes before using, I melted chocolate in microwave 1 lb at a time also. It worked over and over again throughout the holidays!!!! Excellent!
Everyone absolutely loved it. Easily assembled, and just as easy to take apart and clean. Goes in the dishwasher and all ready for the next time. Good quality. Glad we ordered this unit.
This is the real thing. Not too big but will hold about 4 lbs of chocolate. It is very elegant for small home parties up to 30 people (more if refilled). It is about the size of a crock pot or 8 cup rice cooker at the base. and the three tears allow about 6 to 8 individuals to congregate at the same time depending up on the table perhaps more.This will melt the chocolate by itself just allow enough time one or two hours. Don't be afraid to set this up early and let the chocolate flow until the party.
I didn't need to add vegetable shortening to the chocolate.
Perhaps it is just that it takes a minimum of 4-6 pounds of chocolate in order to achieve the perfect flow without gaps and clumps. It is however, easy to clean and to assemble. Takes a bit longer than one might think to heat but this process will prevent scorching. The issue lies in one having to stay close to prevent clumps and gaps and to maintain the perfect amount of chocolate for a visually effective presentation.
It looks nice however, I could not get the chocolate warm enough to flow. Perhaps I should have purchased the recommended chocolate. I will keep it and call for help rather than send it back because I really would like to use it again in the future.
My wife and I purchased this for a party. It failed miserably. It did not melt the chocolate or let it flow after we melted it. It was worthless. I boxed it up and pitched it in the trash still covered in Chocolate. I would not even give it a 1 star. If you buy this piece of crap your just throwing your cash down the drain.
Everyone enjoyed this machine. We purchased the Sephra chocolate which didn't need any additional oil. Easy set up, Easy clean up. No problems at all. Everyone at the party loved it.
It's perfect out of the bag. You can melt the chocolate in the fountain basin (takes about 45 minutes, stirring often) since it has separate switches for turning on the heat and the fountain. To speed things up, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave.VERY IMPORTANT: Once you have started the fountain and it doesn't look like the beautiful flow that it should be, you NEED TO BURP THE FOUNTAIN. You do this by turning off the fountain switch (leaving the heat switch on), and wait till you see the air bubbles escape out of the top of the fountain.
It was worth paying $20 more to get the Sephra name brand. I read reviews of other $40-50 chocolate fountains, and they all said how noisy they were. I paid $70 & got free shipping through Amazon. This unit is very quiet, and some people couldn't even tell there was a noise. It worked perfectly! !
Answer: I found it better to partially melt the chocolate in the microwave before placing it in the unit.  But, in time the unit will melt the chocolate.  Be prepared to clean the unit.  Very hot and soapy water is recommended.  The chocolate leaves a grease like coating on the plastic.  If it were not for this, I would use this item much more often.