Whether you own a home chocolate fountain or a commercial chocolate fountain, you may encounter times when the chocolate is not flowing properly.
While it’s easy to instantly blame the fountain, the majority of “problems” actually stem from the user’s actions.
This guide is a useful reference for easy solutions that will make sure your chocolate fountain works beautifully.
Troubleshooting your chocolate fountain
The Problem: No curtaining or robing
When you see chocolate fountains working correctly, you’ll notice the chocolate flows evenly around and down each tier.
This effect is called ‘robing’ or ‘curtaining’ and is the result of a fountain that was set up and used properly.
When the chocolate clumps or there are gaps in the chocolate’s flow, it is not curtaining and it appears as if something is wrong with the fountain.
This is rarely the case, however, and below you will find the solutions behind this problem.
Viscosity: Make your chocolate fluid
If the chocolate is too thick or thin, it will not cascade evenly – and you will lose the robing effect.
Thick chocolate won’t travel up the central tube fast enough and it will have a lumpy or pudding-like consistency.
If the chocolate is thinned with too much oil, it will appear to drip over the tiers and have gaps.
The best way to avoid these two scenarios is to use Sephra’s fountain-ready chocolate.
Sephra chocolate doesn’t need any oil or thinning agents. It’s designed specially for chocolate fountains.
This results in the perfect consistency to create the curtaining effect and delicious chocolate unspoiled by oil or cocoa butter.
Check your fountain foundation
It’s imperative that your fountain sits on a level surface to function properly.
Even if you use Sephra chocolate, if the fountain isn’t level the chocolate will flow to one side of the fountain.
Sephra chocolate fountains all have adjustable feet, which you can simply adjust until the chocolate is flowing properly again.
Cavetating chocolate fountain
A fountain that cavetates simply means air is trapped in the center tube and is preventing the chocolate from flowing up smoothly.
If this happens, turn off the motor and wait 15 seconds for air bubbles to rise to the surface around the base and at the top.
Once the air bubbles stop, turn the fountain back on. The chocolate should now achieve the curtaining effect.
If further air gets trapped as the auger rotates the chocolate up the cylinder, repeat the process a few times at the beginning of use and later in use.
Check the chocolate’s temperature
Another common mistake is trying to encourage cold chocolate to flow.
If your chocolate isn’t melted properly – and the temperature maintained – then the chocolate won’t continue to curtain.
If you don’t own a Sephra model (particularly when it comes to home editions) the heating element could be substandard.
Sephra chocolate fountains are all equipped with heating elements designed to melt and maintain the perfect fountain temperature.
Another tip is to make sure you don’t place the fountain near an air conditioning vent, which could easily counteract any heating element.
These scenarios could easily happen to any seasoned fountain user.
But ascertaining which of the above might be contributing to a lack of flow will help you quickly troubleshoot the problem. Then you can get back to enjoying the chocolate fountain!