ESD protective wrist band, but no earth ground in the appartment..

[podoljano]

Yeah as stated in the description, i live in a really old apartment, and i have yet to find a earth ground wire around here. I am daily working with sensitive IC's, and believe its about time to find some kind of ESD protection. The only concept i know of is a ESD wrist strap, but with no earth ground i dont really know what to do.. any ideas?

 

[BradtheRad]

I'm in the habit of touching a nearby metal file cabinet when I'm about to handle sensitive IC's. Or a metal power strip with a 3-prong plug. I don't wear a wrist strap. I'm hoping the cabinet is a sufficient sink for static charge. Anyway that's my substitute for an earth ground.

Old house wiring may have metal receptacle boxes, joined by flexible steel conduit (romex?, I believe).
If you can connect a wire to it, that should provide a ground back at the fusebox.