You either have not enough air in the pressure tank or just not enough pressure tank - normally recommended to have enough capacity so the pump runs for at least a minute or two to refill it. One way to get an idea is to measure the volume of water that is drawn when you go from 55 to 30 PSI and compare it to a chart for your tank, or a tank of the same size. Using this pump calculator for a bladder type tank and your cut-in/cut out pressures, you should get about 7 gallons from a 20 gallon tank. If you get much less, you have an issue.
Another is to completely drain the water from the tank, and check the air pressure - if it's a bladder-type tank, it should typically have 28 PSI or so for a 30-lb cut in pressure. If the bladder is burst, it may have no pressure when drained. If it's a non-bladder type tank the explanation of how to maintain antique finicky things gets complex. I'd suggest replacing one with a bladder tank, and IME the same applies for a burst bladder (replacement bladder was most of the cost of a new tank, and the new tank came with a 5-year warranty, while the replacement bladder came with none. YMMV.)
If it's able to keep refilling the tank to 55PSI while you are using the hose, there's probably enough flow. If it's not merely a problem of insufficient pressure in an intact bladder tank, you can either replace a broken tank, add tank capacity, or try a "constant pressure valve" retrofit - essentially a leaky pressure regulator, where the tank would drop from 55 to 30 (unless adjusted to a different cut-in/cut-out), make its way back up to 45-50 or so and stay there as long as you were using water, and then rise to 55 (unless adjusted to a different cut-in/cut-out) and shut off when you stop using water. They claim you can use very small pressure tanks with them...
You can also reduce the extent to which you see pressure change at the hose by using a pressure regulator ($6 or so) on the hose, so that the hose only gets 25 or 30 PSI regardless of the pressure in the well tank, but that's an approach for after you sort out if your well system is working correctly.
Allowing for the possibility that it could be otherwise as diagnosis via internet is imperfect....
I see both a pump problem and a check valve problem here. While they may be located in the same place (if your only check valve is on the pump - which is the way mine is set up) they are not the same thing...though I also see another possibility that would do both.
- Pump problem - pressure not getting above 27 PSI, or 15 with a faucet open.
- Check valve problem - when you shut off the pump the pressure drops
to zero - unless you are using water, the pressure should stay at 27 if it was pumped up to 27. When you only had 10 PSI in the tank, there should have been some water storage - when raised to 38, no water could possibly make it into the tank, since that's designed for 40/60 PSI operation and won't take any water until the the water is over 38 PSI.
The third possibility - you have a leak in the pipe above the pump and check valve - so the pressure is limited, and the water drains away from the leak without the check valve being to blame. If you can go and listen at the top of the well while someone else turns the pump on, you might actually hear this leak, if its in the well above waterline. Or you might have a recently soggy spot in the yard if it's after the pipe leaves the well.
While I don't think it's to blame in this problem, I'd also suggest rechecking your tank pre-charge to see if it has stayed at 38 PSI or started to fall again. Often when the precharge becomes low it's not simply a matter of needing to add air - it's a failure in the bladder or diaphragm.
Best Answer
Could be the tank is a bit small for the system; we try to avoid cycle times of less than a minute. Could be there's a problem. If this is a significant change in behavior from previous behavior, likely a problem; if you never paid attention before, it could be the way it's always been.
Diagnostic step one. Turn off power to the pump, drain water from the system (WATER pressure gauge should read 0) and check AIR pressure in tank.
For a system set at 40-60 PSI as you described, air pressure in the bladder with no water pressure should be about 37-38 PSI. Adjust if needed. If it's also 0, or won't stay where you adjust it to, the bladder has failed and you need a new tank (or bladder, but replaceable bladders often don't cost less than a new tank. Economics is weird. In one case I had, the price was almost exactly the same, but a new bladder had no warranty and the joy of getting the old one out and the new one in, while a new tank had a 5-year warranty...)
Then power up the pump and let the system run until it shuts off. Without using water elsewhere, fill buckets or other known volume items JUST until the pump kicks on. Record the volume that took, and you have some actual diagnostic information. You should be able to look up the specifications of your tank and determine whether the volume you "drew down" matches the expected "draw-down" volume of your tank for 40-60 PSI. If it does, it's working as expected; but you should probably double the tank size to meet the standard aiming point of a minute or more between pump starts.
Another possible mitigating approach (if the bladder is intact and the tank is too small) would be to lower the pressure to 30-50 (set tank 27-28) or 20-40 (set tank to 17-18) which will store more water in the tank (really, look at the charts for your tank, they will tell you.) That assumes your pressure switch is adjustable (be extra certain the BREAKER for the well is off before opening the pressure switch to adjust it, if you do. It has power when the pump is not running.)